MIKE WEST

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 The name Mike West is synonymous with Florida Hip-Hop. Born from The Late Legendary Jazz Musician Ernest West &The Late Dorothy Jackson West Mike's resume includes working with international superstar Pitbull, Thug Life, Dogg Pound, Jason Derulo even 2 Live Crew and various other notable record labels, this multi-talented songwriter/ Artist / composer has achieved legendary status.   He turned his company Big Fro Music into an independent music distributor for his catalogue of albums and mixtapes and established industry relationships that stretch from his native Broward County to his Los Angeles second home.  

 Classic cuts such as “Keep It Going” featuring Jason Derulo, “Grand Finale” featuring Pitbull, “Till The Morning Rise” featuring Urban Mystic remained #1 on the indie record pool charts for 3 months straight and the electrifying Jibba Jaw-produced “Get Your Money which was the leak from his new coming EP” kept his name ringing on the underground with a cult-like following of fans. For his next move, this registered Grammy  voter/ musician is on the verge of releasing long-awaited EP THE JOURNEY.

“The music I create now has to be perfected far better than how I used to put records out—from recording to delivery to mixing and mastering each song,” West points out. “The older music is good too, but my old fans will be able to hear the growth. And the new fans will appreciated it too.”

Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, FL  Mike West was much like any bad ass kid coming up in the hood. Getting into trouble naturally intrigued him at a young age. In fact, the young Mr. West saw the inside of the principal’s office so much in high school that his mother shipped him off to live with relatives in South Central Los Angeles at 15. The only problem was that there was even more potential for trouble in sunny California. 

 “The transition was pretty major because Florida doesn’t really have the gang activity like they do out there,” he recalls. “It was different but I was always protected by the people around me.”

Along with the gangs, guns and drugs that surrounded him, there was also music. NWA had blown up, and Mike became intrigued. But before he could sink his teeth into the local music scene, his mother wanted her baby boy back home. So he returned to Florida during his junior year in high school.
When he got back home, Mike started spending much of his time with an older cousin who was affiliated with popular DJ crew Ghetto Style DJs as well as best friends with Luke (Luther Campbell), CEO of Luke Records. Every weekend, the youngster could be found hanging out at Luke’s famed teen club the Pac Jam.
 

 “You just had to be there to be around the girls, the juke music,” said West. “You’re seeing hundreds of people in a building dancing and having fun. I was just inspired from that, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Hanging out at the club eventually evolved into a job at Luke Records as head of the promotions department. While working for Luke, West became guest DJ at various clubs around Florida and spent time in the studio with Luke, honing his craft and learning from the best.

After a few years working at the label, he decided to expand his options. He left Miami and returned to Los Angeles to work with Eric “Eazy E” Wright at Ruthless Records. Eazy had just signed Bone Thugs N Harmony, and things were looking bright. As fate would have it, his bags were barely unpacked before he was struck with bad news.
“Right when I got there, they told me that E had got diagnosed,” West recalls. “It blew my mind because the next thing I know, he died. It was a move that did not work for me to be at Ruthless.”